Jason is my hero

By Emily:
It was a Tuesday morning. I was driving ten children to school in our van when the rear left wheel began to thump and pedestrians were pointing at my tire.  I was finally used to dodging donkeys, people and taxis and I could confidently drive to school, church and the grocery stores.  Since we had previously experienced two flat tires while Jason was driving, I even took lessons in tire changing the prior Saturday.  Here I was, though, in a busy traffic circle with my children, our neighbor’s children and no other adults.  A bit disconcerted, I called Jason who told me he was getting ready for language school and may not be able to get a ride out to meet us.  I thought I might be on my own, so I proceeded to pop the trunk and get started.  Anna and the first grade boys were thrilled to watch as I removed the spare from the undercarriage.  Lauren read stories to a few children and Sarah sang to the rest.  I placed the jack, put rocks behind the back tires, and started to loosen the screw-thing-a-majiggers.  They were tight, and as traffic was encroached closer and closer to my backside, I decided to wait for help.  My hero husband and our neighbor came to the rescue and before long we were on our way to school.

Living in Addis Ababa is full of new challenges.  For example, in September, we were without water for five days and had to bathe in rainwater collected from our gutters.  Two weeks ago, we were all covered in fleabites and had to spray our house.  Not only that, but it is impossible to find candy corn or gummi bears ANYWHERE!!! Haha.  The rewards, however, far outweigh theses nuisances.  Jason and I both love our jobs, our girls are having a blast playing outside with their friends, and we are meeting some amazing individuals from all over the world.

I am thankful for the opportunity to put my reading degree to use.  I work with small groups of children from kindergarten through third grade.  One of my third grade students has only been speaking English for four months.  He is enthusiastic about speaking and he is already reading on a first grade level. Two of my kindergartners, after two weeks of reading nursery rhymes and rhyming stories can now produce their own rhymes!  My first and second graders are enjoying rich literature and learning a variety of decoding strategies.  Bingham Academy is a fantastic place to work and the staff are positive and encouraging.

Last Tuesday, we had a special science themed day and I was given the job of teaching states of matter with each class.  We made ice cream in Ziploc bags and watched milk, sugar, and vanilla change from a liquid to a solid.  I made sure we read the recipe together so the children could learn a new vocabulary word.  We shook the ice cream bag “vigorously” and the results were delicious.  I’ve included the recipe in case you want to make it at home. 

Thank you to those of you who are on our prayer and financial support teams~  We are thrilled for the opportunity to work with you as servants in Addis Ababa!

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Instant Ice Cream

1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 TBSP sugar
12 ice cubes
2 TBSP course salt

•  Pour milk into a small leak-proof Ziploc bag.  Add vanilla and sugar.  Seal Bag.
• Place ice cubes in larger Ziploc bag.  Sprinkle salt on ice.  Put small bag into larger bag.  Vigorously shake bag.  Within 10 minutes, ice crystals will form in milk mixture.
• Once it reaches consistency of soft-serve ice cream, scoop the ice milk into bowl and serve immediately.
• Makes 2 half-cup serving.